Inventing new paper materials has the ability to replace metals

The engineering team from the University of Maryland (USA) has recently found a paper that is made of durable and self-healing cellulose fibers.

Inventing a new material capable of self-healing

So far engineers have been looking for a material with a strong and durable structure. However, their desired standards often tend to self-exclude or overcome each other. " Hard-structured materials also tend to be brittle, like cast iron or diamond , " said Teng Li, associate professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Maryland.

The engineering team began to study paper made of cellulose fibers, which is a plant-based material that is self-healing . They designed many paper samples with different cellulose yarn sizes, from 30 micrometers to 10 nanometers. Of course, these fibers are all in very small sizes that our naked eyes cannot see.

Through research samples, engineers found that paper made from 10-nanometer-thick cellulose fibers was 40 times more durable and 130 times stronger than conventional writing paper , which used cellulose fibers more than 1,000 times. .

What makes the cellulose fibers stronger and stronger than other materials is due to the hydrogen bond inside it. The cellulose chain is interconnected by hydrogen bonding, and when the cellulose is broken, the bond can reorganize itself, which means the material can recover itself.

In addition, the smaller the cellulose fiber, the more hydrogen bonds it contains, so in order to create a tougher, tougher material as well as recover faster, people need to use cellulose fibers with dimensions The smaller the ruler the better."With this new discovery, people can create new materials that are not only durable and strong, but also lightweight," Li said.